This is Why Josei Anime is Unpopular

This is Why Josei Anime is Unpopular – Hey guys!. In this post, I’ll be discussing This is Why Josei Anime is Unpopular. Josei as a demographic is by far the most under-appreciated, under watched and under read out of all of the other demographics of anime and manga.

There are many attributing factors to this with a lot of the time people just might not know a series they are watching or reading is even a Josei anime or manga in the first place. Since the demographic is so diverse a lot of people confuse these series for Shoujo and sometimes even Seinen titles instead of being what it actually is.

Which makes it quite hard to get into the demographic when you don’t even know what you’re reading. The weird part is is that most series that I and many others have experienced from this demographic are quite good and if they were written under any other demographic they might have even been pretty popular series.

Of course they’re are some popular Josei series out there but even those series would probably be even more popular had they been written under a different demographic. Part of the reason that nobody really talks about a lot of these series might also come from the fact that a lot of these series aren’t even popular in Japan.

So they never get an english release either legally or illegally making it really hard for a new manga reader to find more Josei series they may like. As people don’t really want to put in the effort of translating a lot of these series if no one is going to read the series in the first place.

They also almost never get anime adaptations in comparison to the other demographics of anime and manga. If you go on MAL and go to Josei anime you can scroll down on one page and you will find every series they have available that are Josei in comparison to the other demographics which have multiple pages of anime to choose from.

The low number of Josei series that get anime adaptations makes it really difficult for a lot of these series to hit the mainstream and be talked about by a more mainstream audience. As anime is the best way for people to see your series and to talk about it.

I mean look at Demon Slayer, one of if the most popular anime releasing at the moment before it got its anime adaptation the series was selling pretty modestly, not bad but not amazing either. But then after its anime adaptation the series exploded in popularity and became one of the highest selling manga of all time and the first manga in over 20 years to surpass One Piece in sales.

Not as many people read manga compared to watching anime so when these series get no anime adaptations it makes it hard for these series to grow in popularity. And for the ones that do get anime adaptations for the most part like with most anime they are incomplete. Now that would be fine if you could find the manga to read and get the source material for.

Popular Josei series like Chihayafuru. Which has 3 anime seasons can be really difficult to find the manga to read as it was only just recently licensed in english for the first time. And many other Josei series don’t get the same treatment as Chihayafuru. Making it really hard for Josei fans to get the series they are looking for in their entirety.

There are many different Josei titles that could very well be seen as Shonen, Seinen and the like with series Like Saiyuki originally being a Shonen title but then later becoming a Josei title as they jumped into the reload part of the story. Despite the fact that there is a massive variety of series in the Josei demographic many people may still get confused on what is or isn’t a Josei series.

But a lot of the more obvious series of Josei that have all of the tropes for the genre just don’t really have a wide appeal outside of the target demographic of older women which already isn’t all that large in comparison to the other demographics. Which also doesn’t help to contribute to just how unpopular this demographic is.

As with series that fall under the Shonen or Shojo demographics they can still have an appeal to people outside of their demographics. Hell I’m a really good example of that as I love Shojo manga and read it all the time. But I haven’t really explored much of what Josei has to offer. With me only really experiencing a few series like Chihayafuru, Servamp, and the Sayuki series and a few others.

Almost everything else in the demographic is blank to me. I want to explore more series in the demographic and I certainly plan on doing that very soon. But it is pretty hard to figure out what is and isn’t a Josei series. However with the exception of Servamp everything from the Josei Demographic that I have experienced has been amazing.

With some of my all time favorite anime being Josei series, I’m looking at you Rakugo. The lack of popularity for Josei might also come from the fact that it’s the newest of the demographics of anime and manga as all of the other 3 have been around since the 50’s and potentially even earlier.

Josei only really started to emerge in the late 60’s with the help of the concept of gekiga which started almost a decade prior however this didn’t last very long as these magazines were canceled after a few issues.

So Joesi didn’t get its real start until the 1980’s where a lot of publishers were trying to capitalize on the aging demographic of readers thanks to the help of the year 24 group who helped to expand the demographic of readers of shojo.

But even though Josei finally got its official start it has never seemingly been able to get all that popular with only a few series ever really making it somewhat mainstream with the rest just kind of dropping into obscurity. Josei anime and manga is a pretty weird subject to discuss as a lot of people just want to read or watch series they like without really caring about things like demographics.

But even with that being said somehow people still seemingly always miss out on Josei as it doesn’t feel as appealing to a lot of people. Which I can totally understand and would explain why this demographic is never really talked about and discussed online like the other 3 demographics are. The josei demographic of anime and manga is a very interesting demographic to explore.

It is probably the most diverse demographic out of the main 4. With there being so many different kinds of series to come out of the Josei demographic. Most of which being pretty high quality stuff as well. Which is what makes it so weird that this demographic was never able to make it to the mainstream with almost any of its series.

Every other demographic has at least one series that defines the demographic. There are tons with Shonen like the Big 3 and Dragon Ball being some examples. Shoujo of course has Sailor Moon. And Seinen has series like Berserk, Vinland Saga and Monster. But what does Josei have? Chihayafuru I mean sure that could count if people even knew it was a Josei series.

There are also a few other series like the infamous Usagi Drop which if it wasn’t for its ending might have actually been a more popular series. And the best candidate in my opinion Nodame Cantabile. This series is quite old but to my knowledge it is the only Josei series to have its entire manga adapted into an anime.

But it also has the most Josei-like feel out of all the series that got semi popular in the Josei demographic. With the main characters being adults and the series being a pretty mature romance series centered around music.

Honestly I feel like everybody including myself needs to give more Josei series a try because most Josei anime out there are amazing and just don’t get the recognition they deserve. So please watch and read more Josei I know I will be.

That is it from today’s post on This is Why Josei Anime is Unpopular. If you do not agree with the points in the post and have some of your own opinions, share them with us in the comments section down below. Keep visiting Animesoulking for more information about Anime and Manga.

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Chandan is the writer of “This is Why Josei Anime is Unpopular”. Also, Connect with me on YouTube and Facebook.